1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to temporary shelters for the homeless or other emergency uses, and more particularly to a grouping of specially designed modules to be utilized by individuals for sleeping compartments and storage of belongings.
2. Description of the Related Art
Problems of homelessness, especially in cities and especially in the South are well known. In greater Los Angeles a large homeless population is concentrated near downtown which is generally vacated by working people at night, and in surrounding cities that tolerate the homeless such as Santa Monica. The needs of the homeless are acute at night when they need sleep, the weather is cold and safety is more of an issue. Additionally, once an individual has been homeless for any period of time it is difficult to get off the streets and back into regular job to earn sufficient income for housing, especially where rents are high such as in most parts of Los Angeles.
Local governments and certain private charitable groups provide certain community shelters in large buildings for the homeless, but the number of spaces available falls far short of the needs of the homeless. In the County of Los Angeles it is estimated there are 84,000 homeless on the streets and only 22,000 beds available for them in such community shelters. Many are turned away even after traveling to a shelter and waiting in line, even in inclimate weather. Providing shelter for the homeless thorough such large buildings is also very costly on a per bed basis. Moreover, crowding the homeless into community shelters creates an unpleasant environment, as they lack privacy or separation from others, such that there are noise, health and security problems.
For a time in the 1980s a tent city for the homeless was allowed to exist for a time in the plaza of the civic center for the County of Orange in Santa Ana, approximately 35 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Following public complaints the homeless were rounded up and removed from the area, although some in later years recovered large judgments from the city for being mistreated. In 1993 Dome Village opened near a freeway just west of downtown Los Angeles. The village includes twelve (12) architecturally distinct domes (costing up to $10,000 each), each of which house four (4) homeless individuals. While this is an improvement on a small scale over large community shelters, the inventor is informed four persons in each dome still leads to many problems.
From time-to-time natural disasters such as large fires, earthquakes, and the like occur in Los Angeles and elsewhere. Emergency shelter is needed and usually provided through opening up of large buildings such as school gymnasiums and the like, or tent cities. As an alternative, individualized modular shelter units as proposed by the inventor might be preferable and more economical emergency shelter when natural disasters occur.